Saturday, June 11, 2016
A Hot Box
From The Huffington Post -
This Container Brings Internet To People In Need, Refugees In Remote Areas
So outside of the box.
By Elyse Wanshel
Here is an idea that really delivers.
ZubaBox is a shipping container converted into a solar-powered internet café or classroom for people in need living in remote areas — including refugee camps.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/solar-powered-zubabox-internet-shipping-container-rural-areas-refugee-camps_us_5757155ce4b0b60682df2435
This Container Brings Internet To People In Need, Refugees In Remote Areas
So outside of the box.
By Elyse Wanshel
 |
| A Zubabox dubbed the”Dell Solar Learning Lab” in Cazuca, a suburb of Bogota, Colombia. |
ZubaBox is a shipping container converted into a solar-powered internet café or classroom for people in need living in remote areas — including refugee camps.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/solar-powered-zubabox-internet-shipping-container-rural-areas-refugee-camps_us_5757155ce4b0b60682df2435
Friday, June 10, 2016
Locked Up
An excerpt from Medium -
MI LIBRO by Pablo Guzman
CHAPTER ONE: MAY 30, 1973
“You are to begin your sentence of two years on each count immediately. To be served concurrently.” And yes, Federal Judge Charles Metzner brought down the gavel. My hands were cuffed behind my back.
I turned to say goodbye to my family and friends. It was Wednesday, May 30th 1973. I was 22. The courtroom at Foley Square was packed. It was like looking out on an audience. Different though than the audiences I had looked at speaking in colleges or street rallies. Those always made me a bit nervous, even though people said I was good; I always got nervous. Now, I was more than nervous; I was scared. But, had to put up a front. Big time. Could not show fear. My parents, though divorced, were there together for me. My cousin Gil. Reporters I had dealt with the past four years. And about 150 colleagues and supporters. No time to be a punk.
At the railing I leaned forward. But two court officers grabbed me, one by the throat, and twisted me backwards. Though my Dad was not yet fifty-five, he was in good shape and took the railing, punching out first one officer and then a second. Amateur boxer. He came out of Spanish Harlem, and you did not fuck with those cats. As more officers swarmed, my father’s action was almost a signal to the many Young Lords in the gallery. After all, this is what we did for a living. In seconds the melee in court resembled one of the brawls in Errol Flynn’s Gentleman Jim, a favorite of my Dad and me. “The Corbetts are at it again!” Officers dragged me out of there and threw me in a holding cell. It’s true: when that cell door clangs shut, there’s no other sound quite like it. It fuckin’ rings in your head.
https://medium.com/@yoruba69/mi-libro-f895f07f7cdb#.agdfxbmrq
MI LIBRO by Pablo Guzman
CHAPTER ONE: MAY 30, 1973
“You are to begin your sentence of two years on each count immediately. To be served concurrently.” And yes, Federal Judge Charles Metzner brought down the gavel. My hands were cuffed behind my back.
I turned to say goodbye to my family and friends. It was Wednesday, May 30th 1973. I was 22. The courtroom at Foley Square was packed. It was like looking out on an audience. Different though than the audiences I had looked at speaking in colleges or street rallies. Those always made me a bit nervous, even though people said I was good; I always got nervous. Now, I was more than nervous; I was scared. But, had to put up a front. Big time. Could not show fear. My parents, though divorced, were there together for me. My cousin Gil. Reporters I had dealt with the past four years. And about 150 colleagues and supporters. No time to be a punk.
At the railing I leaned forward. But two court officers grabbed me, one by the throat, and twisted me backwards. Though my Dad was not yet fifty-five, he was in good shape and took the railing, punching out first one officer and then a second. Amateur boxer. He came out of Spanish Harlem, and you did not fuck with those cats. As more officers swarmed, my father’s action was almost a signal to the many Young Lords in the gallery. After all, this is what we did for a living. In seconds the melee in court resembled one of the brawls in Errol Flynn’s Gentleman Jim, a favorite of my Dad and me. “The Corbetts are at it again!” Officers dragged me out of there and threw me in a holding cell. It’s true: when that cell door clangs shut, there’s no other sound quite like it. It fuckin’ rings in your head.
https://medium.com/@yoruba69/mi-libro-f895f07f7cdb#.agdfxbmrq
I Would Rather . . .
An excerpt from McSweeney's -
I WOULD RATHER DO ANYTHING ELSE THAN GRADE YOUR FINAL PAPERS.
BY ROBIN LEE MOZER
Dear Students Who Have Just Completed My Class,
I would rather do anything else than grade your Final Papers.
I would rather base jump off of the parking garage next to the student activity center or eat that entire sketchy tray of taco meat leftover from last week’s student achievement luncheon that’s sitting in the department refrigerator or walk all the way from my house to the airport on my hands than grade your Final Papers.
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-would-rather-do-anything-else-than-grade-your-final-papers
I WOULD RATHER DO ANYTHING ELSE THAN GRADE YOUR FINAL PAPERS.
BY ROBIN LEE MOZER
Dear Students Who Have Just Completed My Class,
I would rather do anything else than grade your Final Papers.
I would rather base jump off of the parking garage next to the student activity center or eat that entire sketchy tray of taco meat leftover from last week’s student achievement luncheon that’s sitting in the department refrigerator or walk all the way from my house to the airport on my hands than grade your Final Papers.
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-would-rather-do-anything-else-than-grade-your-final-papers
Watching Over Us
Just like we experienced terrorism long before 9/11, so too have we experienced surveillance long before it's widespread use today.
An excerpt from Political Research -
TRACKING BLACKNESS: A Q&A WITH DARK MATTERS AUTHOR SIMONE BROWNE
By Lindsay Beyerstein
We tend to think of mass surveillance as a relatively new phenomenon, a byproduct of the digital revolution. Examples of high-tech surveillance spring readily to mind, including the NSA scooping up our emails, Samsung televisions picking up living room chitchat along with your voice commands, and Oral Roberts University collecting data on its entire student body via Fitbit activity trackers. But, as it turns out, our high-tech surveillance society had lower-tech precursors.
Simone Browne, an associate professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, describes her new book, Dark Matters: On The Surveillance of Blackness, as a conversation between Black Studies and Surveillance Studies—the latter a young discipline devoted to investigating the technological and social dimensions of surveillance. Browne’s research shows that surveillance was an essential part of transatlantic slavery, a system that held millions of people against their will and tracked them as property. And she argues that slavery created an ongoing demand for technologies to monitor Black bodies. The day-to-day enforcement of slavery raised familiar-sounding questions: Is this person who they say they are? Are they allowed to be here? How do we know? Dramas of surveillance and counter-surveillance played out constantly.
If surveillance is the state watching the individual, sousveillance is the individual looking back at the state. The history of slavery is full of examples of both kinds of watching. Slave catchers hunted down runaway slaves for money. The catchers were themselves carefully watched, and the news of a slave catcher’s whereabouts could also spread rapidly through the Black community. Abolitionists also circulated handbills warning free Blacks and their allies to be on guard against slave catchers.
- See more at: http://www.politicalresearch.org/2016/06/07/tracking-blackness-a-qa-with-dark-matters-author-simone-browne/#sthash.Q72kGxUr.4M31FFEi.dpuf
An excerpt from Political Research -
TRACKING BLACKNESS: A Q&A WITH DARK MATTERS AUTHOR SIMONE BROWNE
By Lindsay Beyerstein
We tend to think of mass surveillance as a relatively new phenomenon, a byproduct of the digital revolution. Examples of high-tech surveillance spring readily to mind, including the NSA scooping up our emails, Samsung televisions picking up living room chitchat along with your voice commands, and Oral Roberts University collecting data on its entire student body via Fitbit activity trackers. But, as it turns out, our high-tech surveillance society had lower-tech precursors.
Simone Browne, an associate professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, describes her new book, Dark Matters: On The Surveillance of Blackness, as a conversation between Black Studies and Surveillance Studies—the latter a young discipline devoted to investigating the technological and social dimensions of surveillance. Browne’s research shows that surveillance was an essential part of transatlantic slavery, a system that held millions of people against their will and tracked them as property. And she argues that slavery created an ongoing demand for technologies to monitor Black bodies. The day-to-day enforcement of slavery raised familiar-sounding questions: Is this person who they say they are? Are they allowed to be here? How do we know? Dramas of surveillance and counter-surveillance played out constantly.
If surveillance is the state watching the individual, sousveillance is the individual looking back at the state. The history of slavery is full of examples of both kinds of watching. Slave catchers hunted down runaway slaves for money. The catchers were themselves carefully watched, and the news of a slave catcher’s whereabouts could also spread rapidly through the Black community. Abolitionists also circulated handbills warning free Blacks and their allies to be on guard against slave catchers.
- See more at: http://www.politicalresearch.org/2016/06/07/tracking-blackness-a-qa-with-dark-matters-author-simone-browne/#sthash.Q72kGxUr.4M31FFEi.dpuf
A Photo Essay of Us
An excerpt from The Huffington Post -
How Contemporary Photography Is Changing The Image Of Blackness In America
“How many movements began when an aesthetic encounter indelibly changed our past perceptions of the world?” by Pricilla Frank
For centuries, people of color were not visualized with veracity and careful attention in photographs or books or movies, but reduced to one-dimensional black bodies. Their images existed only as objectified stereotypes that failed to accurately represent the realities of black lives, rendering them virtually invisible.
That time, thankfully, is no longer. Contemporary photographers and filmmakers are capturing the black experience in its full nuance and complexity, and the world is watching. Aperture magazine’s most recent 152-page edition, titled “Vision & Justice,” celebrates the artists responsible for this current cultural moment, in which black lives are immortalized through images that contain multitudes — just like their subjects.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-monumental-role-of-contemporary-photography-in-the-fight-for-racial-equality_us_57521015e4b0eb20fa0e0a5e?utm_hp_ref=arts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Culture%20Shift%20061016&utm_content=Culture%20Shift%20061016+CID_286a6284aef982d9aca7a9863fdc390e&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Read%20more%20here
How Contemporary Photography Is Changing The Image Of Blackness In America
“How many movements began when an aesthetic encounter indelibly changed our past perceptions of the world?” by Pricilla Frank
For centuries, people of color were not visualized with veracity and careful attention in photographs or books or movies, but reduced to one-dimensional black bodies. Their images existed only as objectified stereotypes that failed to accurately represent the realities of black lives, rendering them virtually invisible.
That time, thankfully, is no longer. Contemporary photographers and filmmakers are capturing the black experience in its full nuance and complexity, and the world is watching. Aperture magazine’s most recent 152-page edition, titled “Vision & Justice,” celebrates the artists responsible for this current cultural moment, in which black lives are immortalized through images that contain multitudes — just like their subjects.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-monumental-role-of-contemporary-photography-in-the-fight-for-racial-equality_us_57521015e4b0eb20fa0e0a5e?utm_hp_ref=arts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Culture%20Shift%20061016&utm_content=Culture%20Shift%20061016+CID_286a6284aef982d9aca7a9863fdc390e&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Read%20more%20here
Cuba Bound
From the Atlantic -
More Flights to Cuba
Six U.S. airlines will begin scheduled flights to the island nation.
Americans will now have more opportunities to fly to Cuba.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved six domestic airlines to begin flights to Cuba from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. This is the first time there have been scheduled flights between the U.S. and Cuba in more than 50 years. Charter flights between the two countries, though, have been allowed for several years, making around 100 crossings per week.
http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/06/flights-to-cuba/486611/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-061016
More Flights to Cuba
Six U.S. airlines will begin scheduled flights to the island nation.
Americans will now have more opportunities to fly to Cuba.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved six domestic airlines to begin flights to Cuba from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. This is the first time there have been scheduled flights between the U.S. and Cuba in more than 50 years. Charter flights between the two countries, though, have been allowed for several years, making around 100 crossings per week.
http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/06/flights-to-cuba/486611/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-061016
It's Over
From the Huffington Post -
Brock Turner Banned For Life By USA Swimming
His “promising” swimming career is done.
Former Stanford University student Brock Turner is no longer eligible to compete in events sanctioned by USA Swimming, USA Today confirmed Monday afternoon.
The ban, which includes Olympic tryouts, was confirmed by USA Swimming spokesman Scott Leightman in an email to USA Today.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brock-turner-banned-for-life-by-usa-swimming_us_575accb3e4b0ced23ca7c919
Brock Turner Banned For Life By USA Swimming
His “promising” swimming career is done.
Former Stanford University student Brock Turner is no longer eligible to compete in events sanctioned by USA Swimming, USA Today confirmed Monday afternoon.
The ban, which includes Olympic tryouts, was confirmed by USA Swimming spokesman Scott Leightman in an email to USA Today.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brock-turner-banned-for-life-by-usa-swimming_us_575accb3e4b0ced23ca7c919
Prospective Jurors Boycott
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Prospective Jurors Boycott Judge Aaron Persky As 1 Million People Demand His Recall
“I can’t be here, I’m so upset,” one prospective juror reportedly told Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky on Wednesday.
“I can’t believe what you did,” said another.
These two individuals were among several prospective jurors who reportedly refused to serve under Persky in a misdemeanor stolen property case.
Persky is the judge who presided over Brock Turner’s sentencing for sexual assault.
The East Bay Times said at least 10 prospective jurors declined to serve in the unrelated case. KPIX-TV said the number was double that, and the jurors cited the judge as a hardship.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/aaron-persky-juror-boycott_us_575a5fcce4b00f97fba7ee6f
Prospective Jurors Boycott Judge Aaron Persky As 1 Million People Demand His Recall
“I can’t be here, I’m so upset,” one prospective juror reportedly told Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky on Wednesday.
“I can’t believe what you did,” said another.
These two individuals were among several prospective jurors who reportedly refused to serve under Persky in a misdemeanor stolen property case.
Persky is the judge who presided over Brock Turner’s sentencing for sexual assault.
The East Bay Times said at least 10 prospective jurors declined to serve in the unrelated case. KPIX-TV said the number was double that, and the jurors cited the judge as a hardship.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/aaron-persky-juror-boycott_us_575a5fcce4b00f97fba7ee6f
Voting
True confession . . .
I didn't cast my first vote until I was 40.
Yes, I was 40 freaking years old!
What an idiot!
Thousands of people shed their blood and gave their lives for me to have the opportunity to vote, and I blew it off like it was no big deal.
I'd like to blame it on youthful indiscretions, but 40 is far removed from any reasonable measure of youth.
I have few regrets, but not taking advantage of the right to vote is definitely one of them.
Here's hoping that others will learn from my foolish ways, and my newfound zeal will motivate them to do just the opposite.
That is . . .
To recognize the power that voting affords us.
To understand the responsibility that it holds.
To appreciate what so many around the world wish for.
It took me a while, OK a long while, to grasp the gravity of this vital civic responsibility, but now that I have, I want to shout it from the rooftops.
To all those Bernie supporters, and I am counted among them, we must focus on the task at hand, that is, keeping Trump out of the White House.
Hillary may not be all that we want or even need her to be, but even on her worse days, she'll be a thousand times better than that vile, disgusting, racist, sexist, narcissistic Trump.
So, take it from me.
If you've never voted before in your life, or if you've half-heartedly voted in the past, or if you're a regular voter, come November let us join together and vote in droves with a renewed energy so that our voices and our votes will drown out and defeat Trump, who would be an embarrassment and a danger to us all.
I didn't cast my first vote until I was 40.
Yes, I was 40 freaking years old!
What an idiot!
Thousands of people shed their blood and gave their lives for me to have the opportunity to vote, and I blew it off like it was no big deal.
I'd like to blame it on youthful indiscretions, but 40 is far removed from any reasonable measure of youth.
I have few regrets, but not taking advantage of the right to vote is definitely one of them.
Here's hoping that others will learn from my foolish ways, and my newfound zeal will motivate them to do just the opposite.
That is . . .
To recognize the power that voting affords us.
To understand the responsibility that it holds.
To appreciate what so many around the world wish for.
It took me a while, OK a long while, to grasp the gravity of this vital civic responsibility, but now that I have, I want to shout it from the rooftops.
To all those Bernie supporters, and I am counted among them, we must focus on the task at hand, that is, keeping Trump out of the White House.
Hillary may not be all that we want or even need her to be, but even on her worse days, she'll be a thousand times better than that vile, disgusting, racist, sexist, narcissistic Trump.
So, take it from me.
If you've never voted before in your life, or if you've half-heartedly voted in the past, or if you're a regular voter, come November let us join together and vote in droves with a renewed energy so that our voices and our votes will drown out and defeat Trump, who would be an embarrassment and a danger to us all.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Not Good Google
An excerpt from USA Today -
Google image searches for "three black teenagers" and "three white teenagers" get very different results, raising troubling questions about how racial bias in society and the media is reflected online.
Kabir Alli, an 18-year-old graduating senior from Clover Hill High School in Midlothian, Va., posted a video clip on Twitter this week of a Google image search for "three black teenagers" which turned up an array of police mugshots. He and friends then searched for "three white teenagers," and found groups of smiling young people.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/06/09/google-image-search-three-black-teenagers-three-white-teenagers/85648838/
Google image searches for "three black teenagers" and "three white teenagers" get very different results, raising troubling questions about how racial bias in society and the media is reflected online.
Kabir Alli, an 18-year-old graduating senior from Clover Hill High School in Midlothian, Va., posted a video clip on Twitter this week of a Google image search for "three black teenagers" which turned up an array of police mugshots. He and friends then searched for "three white teenagers," and found groups of smiling young people.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/06/09/google-image-search-three-black-teenagers-three-white-teenagers/85648838/
Heads Are Starting to Roll
From The Washington Post -
Navy admiral to plead guilty in ‘Fat Leonard’ corruption scandal
By Craig Whitlock
A one-star Navy admiral will plead guilty today to lying to federal investigators in the “Fat Leonard” corruption scandal, his attorney said, which would make him the highest-ranking officer so far to be convicted in the case.
Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau, a special assistant to the chief of the Navy Supply Corps, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in San Diego late Thursday afternoon, court records show. He will plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to investigators, said David Benowitz, his defense attorney.
~~~~~~~~~~
Gilbeau, 55, came to know Francis — known in maritime circles as “Fat Leonard” for his girth — during several deployments to Asia and was also under investigation for his relationships with other contractors when he served in Afghanistan in 2012 and 2013, according to the individuals familiar with the investigation.
Gilbeau departed Afghanistan shortly after Francis, 51, was arrested in an international sting operation in San Diego in September 2013.
Francis has since admitted to bribing Navy officials with cash, sex and gifts worth millions of dollars so he could win more defense contracts. His company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, provided critical support for the Navy’s 7th Fleet for a quarter-century by resupplying and refueling submarines and ships in ports throughout Asia.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/navy-admiral-to-plead-guilty-in-fat-leonard-corruption-scandal/2016/06/09/6955e5ec-2e4e-11e6-9de3-6e6e7a14000c_story.html
Navy admiral to plead guilty in ‘Fat Leonard’ corruption scandal
By Craig Whitlock
A one-star Navy admiral will plead guilty today to lying to federal investigators in the “Fat Leonard” corruption scandal, his attorney said, which would make him the highest-ranking officer so far to be convicted in the case.
Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau, a special assistant to the chief of the Navy Supply Corps, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in San Diego late Thursday afternoon, court records show. He will plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to investigators, said David Benowitz, his defense attorney.
~~~~~~~~~~
Gilbeau, 55, came to know Francis — known in maritime circles as “Fat Leonard” for his girth — during several deployments to Asia and was also under investigation for his relationships with other contractors when he served in Afghanistan in 2012 and 2013, according to the individuals familiar with the investigation.
Gilbeau departed Afghanistan shortly after Francis, 51, was arrested in an international sting operation in San Diego in September 2013.
Francis has since admitted to bribing Navy officials with cash, sex and gifts worth millions of dollars so he could win more defense contracts. His company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, provided critical support for the Navy’s 7th Fleet for a quarter-century by resupplying and refueling submarines and ships in ports throughout Asia.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/navy-admiral-to-plead-guilty-in-fat-leonard-corruption-scandal/2016/06/09/6955e5ec-2e4e-11e6-9de3-6e6e7a14000c_story.html
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Home Girl
From Rolling Stone -
Janis Joplin's Childhood Home Up for Sale
Owners asking for nearly ten times market value for singer's Port Arthur, Texas house
Before Janis Joplin became one of the definitive voices of Sixties rock, she was a child growing up in Port Arthur, Texas. Now, the home where the singer spent the early part of her life is up on the market, according to SFGate.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/janis-joplins-childhood-home-up-for-sale-20160608#ixzz4B3S4saj7
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
Janis Joplin's Childhood Home Up for Sale
Owners asking for nearly ten times market value for singer's Port Arthur, Texas house
Before Janis Joplin became one of the definitive voices of Sixties rock, she was a child growing up in Port Arthur, Texas. Now, the home where the singer spent the early part of her life is up on the market, according to SFGate.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/janis-joplins-childhood-home-up-for-sale-20160608#ixzz4B3S4saj7
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
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